We are all so powerful. We have the power to make the most out of life, out of the moment, or to make life unpleasant. The moment is what it is, and what we bring to it makes it either enjoyable or stressful and unpleasant. We are meant to discover that we are powerful creators, if not of our entire reality, at least of our experience of reality. We aren’t responsible for what each moment holds, but we are responsible for our experience of each moment because we have the power to make any moment heaven or hell. We don’t create our entire reality, since other forces are at work, but how we think about and interact with reality (what’s showing up in the moment) affects it to some extent and, surely, affects our experience of it.

How much enjoyment can you squeeze out of the present moment? What if that was your job, your aim, your sole (or soul’s) purpose? What if you approached each moment with this intention? If you were determined to get enjoyment out of every moment, you would do whatever it takes. What it takes is not listening to negative thoughts, yours or anyone else’s.

Disregarding negative thoughts isn’t hiding our head in the sand, but simply not allowing the negative to clutter and influence our experience of the present moment. Although we are programmed to think our negative thoughts, worries, and fears serve a useful function, the moment is never helped or improved by negativity. Focusing on negativity and fears doesn’t make anyone a better person, nor does it help us function better in the world. In fact, the opposite is true.

How do you squeeze enjoyment out of a moment? For one thing, pay attention to it—closely. Notice what you are experiencing internally, intuitively, and through your senses. Notice the experience you are having, without evaluating and reflecting on it. The mental voice that comments on life and on experience isn’t useful or wise. That voice is an impersonator, a false self, and it has nothing to offer. Don’t listen to it. When you do, the juice and joy are sucked out of life.

Enjoying life is a matter of recognizing that which is “in joy,” which is the Being that we are, Essence. The Being that is living our life is in joy and enjoying every moment. It is rejoicing in the experience it is having, regardless of what that experience is, because this Being has no judgments or stories to tell about any experience or anything. It is just in joy all the time.

We have the power to experience this joy or to disregard it and, instead, experience our mind’s stories and judgments about the moment, our mind’s endless commentary. We are powerful enough to recognize which choice brings more joy, and we are powerful enough to be able to choose that. If we see we are making choices that don’t make the most out of the moment, we can choose differently. When we choose to experience the present moment instead of the mind’s commentary about it, our experience of life changes.

So let your guiding question be, “How can I get the most enjoyment out of this moment?” Although seeking enjoyment from the moment might seem self-serving, seeking the Heart’s joy is actually the most selfless thing you can do, because to experience enjoyment, the false (selfish) self must disappear. And the Self that remains is supremely serving itself—the whole of life—through you.